You know those people who come out of the womb, knowing they want to be a rocket scientist, or a doctor, world saving, President of the United States?
And then they work the rest of their lives pursuing that one thing?

Well, that has never been me.
I have ALWAYS wanted to be a published author.
But that’s not all.
I want to teach inner-city high school kids, have my own hand-made business, be a motivational speaker and lead a non-profit organization.
When I started my blog, the question became, “With all of my interests, how do I find my niche?!”
Before we go any further, there’s a little exercise that will help you figure out what exactly it is that you want to be known for.
Think of your blog right now, and now think of where you want your blog to be in FIVE years.
Now think in TEN years…
Now, write down where your blog is NOW.
If a lot of your answers don’t match up, then we need to fix that!
You should be accomplishing what you want N-O-W.

Here are 5 things that you can do to find your niche, and make your blog what you want it to be:

1. Make a list of 10 things that make you happy. Rank them from 1-10, 10 being the highest. For me, serving others and accomplishing goals were my highest. This is how I started The Shine Project.

2. Look at other blogs/websites who have similar content to what you would like to have. If you’re into fashion, compare fashion blogs; if it’s cooking, look at blogs that are dedicated to that. Make a list of things that you like and don’t like during your research.

3. Determine what sets you apart. For me there really was no lifestyle blog that was trying to accomplish what I wanted to accomplish. So I took my idea, and ran with it. Figure out what YOU have to add to fashion, or crafting, or raising kids. What makes you unique? If you have a hard time figuring this out, ask someone close to you. Also think about how you want the reader to feel after reading your blog.

4. Don’t make your niche so small that it excludes a lot of people. For example, if you’re into cooking, make sure you appeal to beginners, non-cookers, experts, etc. Otherwise, you will have trouble pulling people into your blog/website.

5. Trust yourself and have CONFIDENCE. If you don’t believe in your idea, no one else will either. Hard challenges have great outcomes, so push forward and find how you can contribute to the people around you.

So go ahead, let the world see you SHINE!

About the Author:

Ashley is the founder of The Shine Project and is working on publishing a novel. She lives in Arizona with her hubby, and will be graduating from ASU in May. When she’s not writing, you can find her running, doing service projects, and eating ice cream!

9 Responses to “How to Find Your Niche”

Excellent post!! I’m going to take your advice and do some thinking. 🙂 I feel like my blog could squeeze into a few different niches, but I wonder if narrowing it down a bit would help me grow my readership…Thank you for sharing.

Great post! My original blog for many years had a very narrow focus and even though I had a nice readership, I felt like I was leaving out a big part of my life and passions.
My blog now for the last year and a half includes my three other passions (besides writing) but in the past year I’ve seen the create part filter to the top and becoming more than the other two. I doubt I’ll change urls but it’s interesting to see where this whole journey is going. Thanks again for the article!

I totally wish this was the original takeaway I had from today’s session. You said it very well, in a very non-territorial “this is my niche” way. Thank you for that; it’s nice to see someone encouraging people to follow simple steps to make sure they’re doing something they’ll be happy with years down the road.